EPISODE 14: Discerning Your Calling — Part 1 How to Know if You Should Go
A couple of years ago, I sat in a room with about 50 cross-cultural workers living in South Asia — veterans, people with 20+ years on the field. We asked the ones who stayed: what kept you here? Every single one of them said the same thing: calling. Not strategy, not a great organization — a deep sense that God had called them to a specific people, a specific work, and hadn't released them yet.
I know that people going to the field for the first time know they need a calling. But often they're searching for it so much that they don't even go — because they don't know what it looks like, or how to define it, or even what a calling actually is. So that's what I'm talking about in this two-part series.
In this episode I cover:
- What apostolic yearning is and how to recognize it in yourself
- What apostolic conviction is and why one long-term worker said he'd rather see conviction than calling
- The difference between spiritual gifting and personality (and why it matters)
- Why ordinary people — not superstars — are the ones who end up on the field
- A practical listening prayer exercise you can do today
- What to do with your language fears
This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Part 2 — Called to a Who, Not a Where — drops next week.
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Free Chapter 9 download — Wrestling With Calling, Gifting and Personalities:
- Across the Street and Around the World book:
- Uncharted Mission — stories of workers discovering and living out their calling:
- The Raw Mission Podcast
Connect with me!
🌐 Website: www.jeanniemarieacademy.com
📱 Instagram: @jeanniemmarie
📖 Take the Global Goer Quiz: www.jeanniemarieacademy.com/quiz
🎥 Watch the free one-hour training: Share Jesus Naturally With the Nations Near You
What's Next:
Next week: Episode 16 - Discerning Your Calling Part Two: Called to a Who, Not a Where
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